Gun Outfit – Dream All Over

By Jennie Orton

Paradise of Bachelors

In this sultry, morning dew-soaked, dry-mouthed hangover of an album, Gun Outfit prompts open-eyed reflection. Dylan Sharp and his world-weary Lou Reed-esque groan matches Carrie Keith’s all knowing jaded bored vocals; the loose guitars and plodding bass are an suiting accompaniment to the the self-aware but world-worn lyrics. Dream All Over is California wisdom parlayed by millennial.

This is an album for people who have learned to acknowledge regret but aren’t really ready to clean up its mess yet. Keith, whose voice has the same slightly off-key broken dolly refrain of a ‘94 Courtney Love, unapologetically croons “I looked familiar in a foreign land, I couldn’t speak, but I could understand, From another life I rode into a desert of my own” and you hear the weary and wary disappointment that comes with most sudden bursts of self-truth.

What keeps this album from getting stuck in an existential crisis is the rambling spirit of the music. Truly, this is the updated version of the Crosby, Stills & Nash style of optimistic road strumming. This is best put to work in the track “Pass on Through,” a song that feels like a drop of wisdom for those who are fighting the tides, set to a travelling riff that bolsters the soul. As Sharp sings “Just turn around and open wide. Lose your heart and lose your mind, and you can have some too” you feel like you might be able to pull whatever that actually means off.